Undocumented Immigrants

120 Days is a documentary that is meant to open a discussion about Immigration policy reform in America.It closely follows the personal life of Miguel Cortes, an undocumented immigrant who lived with his family in North Carolina for twelve years, as he counts down his last days in the United States.

Before the movie begins, a North Carolina police pulled over Cortes for a routine traffic stop and arrested him after discovering this immigration status. The police quickly turned Cortes into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, because the 278(g) policy passed in North Carolina permits police officers to operate like ICE officials in order to get “dangerous” immigrants off the street.

Arizona attempted to enforce a similar policy in 2010. S.B. 1070 allowed police to check a person’s immigration status during routine policing procedures, which in turn created problems when lawmakers suspected police were targeting individuals through racial profiling. As a result of the policy, Latino businesses closed and populations plummeted while community trust in law enforcement reacted similarly.

Seeing as law enforcement relies heavily on community involvement to maintain order, policies such as these discourage residents from speaking up due to the fear of deportation, ultimately making law enforcement’s job more difficult.

The Cortes family appears to be the exact opposite of dangerous. Not every immigrant is dangerous like the ones broadcasted on TV. Many are from wholesome, hard-working families, restlessly chasing the American Dream.

Miguel and his wife were prominent community leaders who volunteered for their church’s choir and found time to teach dance classes to children despite their anxiety about Miguel’s departure. Their daughters excelled in school, just as they hoped.

“For me, the United States was always the land of opportunity,” Miguel’s wife, Maria-Luisa, says in the film. “I remember crossing…we risked a lot, wanting a better life for our daughters.”

The Cortes family seem like the “model” example for immigrant families. They have heavy community involvement, excel in school, have never broken the law in the twelve years since living in America. Despite this Miguel is being deported because of a law originally intended to be used on criminals.

The Free Our Dreams event at UC Davis brought youth from all around California to come together and discuss issues in their communities. One of the most recent issues Californians and many other people across the country face is the fazing-out of the DACA program. In this video, we explain what DACA is, and how it will affect the people.

According to Homeland Security, the estimated total of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. is between 8-12 million people. California alone is home to around 2 million; that’s 1 in 5 of all undocumented immigrants living in the Golden State. With that large number of people living in the United States, one might think that our government would want to provide support for our undocumented neighbors.

Many undocumented immigrants, specifically undocumented students, face many challenges as they move through the education system in the U.S. Many undocumented students fear that they could get separated from their families due to deportation when at school.

This issue has caught the eye of some very important people. The Sacramento City Unified School District recently declared their schools as safe havens. That means that students are allowed on campus without fear of federal agencies like ICE from entering school premises in search of undocumented immigrants.

Undocumented students also lack the accessibility to federal financial aid, making college harder to attend. State-level financial aid is available, though many undocumented students find it fearful to share very personal information with the government.

“I was lucky to be able to be born in the U.S. but for friends and family, a lot of them are undocumented,” said Angel Perez, a soon-to-be college student. “I will be going to college in the fall but I know some of my friends aren’t due to a lack of federal help.”

In California, there is a new rising wave of support for undocumented students that continues to grow. Free legal services at most UC campuses are offered through support from the UC Immigrant Legal Services Center, and in-state tuition support at public universities through Assembly Bill 540.

One of the many topics that Californians are pushing for is keeping the public-at-large, specifically undocumented students, aware of the information on how to keep moving forward in the education system as an immigrant. It is also on the forefront of many resident’s minds to help students from the constant pressures that surround them.